Northwest Forest

The body of Purple Charm was buried at the edge of the village. Before long, the system would completely erase her remains; burial was the final shred of dignity the Dragon Nation could offer its Players.

Wind Snow Traveler walked into a small thatched hut nearby, where a wooden plaque was displayed. About two hundred IDs were carved onto it, and he added the name of Purple Charm to the list.

Clearly, these names belonged to the Players who had perished in Zone 18 of the Novice Village.

"Alright, everyone go back and get some rest."

After finishing this, Wind Snow Traveler waved his hand, signaling the other Players to leave.

Once everyone had departed, Blade Shadow, who had been standing to the side, couldn't wait to ask.

"Boss, what's the situation? How are those five people actually fine?"

Wind Snow Traveler glanced at him. "Why? Were you hoping they would die?"

"That's not what I meant." Blade Shadow hurriedly explained, "A group of novice Players who just entered the game managed to survive against a Level 4 Fierce Beast, the Diamond Behemoth. I'm genuinely curious about what they did."

Wind Snow Traveler looked up at the pitch-black night sky, his voice tinged with a strange emotion. "They didn't survive against the Diamond Behemoth; they survived because they killed a Diamond Behemoth."

"What?" Blade Shadow was so shocked his eyes nearly popped out of his sockets. "Boss, you aren't joking, are you? They killed a Diamond Behemoth?"

"I saw the corpse of the Diamond Behemoth with my own eyes. What do you think?"

Blade Shadow was too stunned to speak.

Wind Snow Traveler's eyes grew deep. "It seems there are some overlooked geniuses among the novice Players who arrived this time. Perhaps in the Regional Grand Competition a year from now, our Zone 18 will have a chance to fight for some resources."

The night passed quickly.

In the morning, the novice Players planned to head out of the village to continue hunting.

Although the death of Purple Charm had dealt a blow to everyone's spirits, this was something they had to experience if they wanted to survive in Cloud Sea.

Only four members remained in the team led by Don't Understand. Their intention was to disband and join the other three teams.

In Cloud Sea, there was no limit on the number of people in a party, but Players generally chose to form groups of five. This not only provided a certain level of safety but also made the distribution of Core Power more reasonable.

After what happened yesterday, the four members of Don't Understand's group absolutely could not go out hunting with only four people, which was why they proposed joining the other three teams.

Han the Person rolled his eyes. Yesterday, the four of them had abandoned them to flee alone; the idea that they wanted to join them today was nothing short of a pipe dream.

They didn't want people who would abandon their teammates!

However, seeing that Jiu Chen hadn't spoken, Han the Person and the others exchanged glances and remained silent as well.

Their team was now led by Jiu Chen.

"Jiu Chen, I know we were in the wrong yesterday, but I was truly scared out of my wits at the time. I only thought about returning to the village to find rescue; I didn't mean to abandon you guys." Don't Understand still tried to explain.

"Our team plans to enter the Northwest Forest today."

As soon as Jiu Chen said this, everyone was stunned.

The Northwest Forest was the territory of the Level 2 Fierce Beast Red Flame Fox and the Level 3 Fierce Beast Green Wood Wolf.

The Xiao Fan Team actually wanted to go hunt Level 2 and Level 3 Fierce Beasts!

This was the result of Jiu Chen's careful deliberation yesterday. The gains from killing Level 1 Fierce Beasts were too small. He was desperate to level up, and the best way to do so was to hunt Level 2 and Level 3 Fierce Beasts.

Now that all four members of the team had reached Level 2, and after the events of yesterday, their team's synergy was nearly perfect. Entering the Level 2 and Level 3 zone would be no problem at all.

He had originally intended to discuss this with Han the Person and the others just now, but he hadn't expected Don't Understand to propose joining their team first.

Upon hearing Jiu Chen's plan, the four members of Han the Person's group were not afraid; instead, they were eager to try.

Killing a Level 4 Fierce Beast yesterday had given the four of them unprecedented confidence.

If they could kill a Level 4 Fierce Beast, what was a Level 2 or Level 3 one? They could kill them with a flick of their wrists, right?

"That's right, we're going to the Northwest Forest today. If you want to join, come along."

"But let's get this straight: we're going to hunt, not to protect people. If you want to slack off, don't blame us for being impolite."

"Northwest Forest, if you can fight, then come."

Han the Person and the others chimed in one after another.

Don't Understand's expression turned ugly. He was only Level 1; how could he dare to go to the Northwest Forest?

"Jiu Chen, this is only the third day since we entered the game. Isn't it a bit reckless to take people to the Northwest Forest?"

"What's reckless about it? We killed a Level 4 Fierce Beast, why would we be afraid of Level 2s and 3s?" Han the Person said with his head held high.

"What? They killed a Level 4 Fierce Beast? Is that for real?"

"My god, when they returned safely yesterday, I thought the Village Chief had saved them. It turns out they killed their way back themselves."

Yesterday, when Jiu Chen and his group returned to the village with Wind Snow Traveler's group, these novice Players naturally assumed that Wind Snow Traveler had saved them.

They never expected that it was actually Jiu Chen and his companions who had killed that Level 4 Fierce Beast.

How could the gap between people be so vast!

They entered the forest yesterday, but they hadn't even killed a few Red-Eyed Rabbits, returning almost empty-handed.

Xiao Chen and his group were actually already killing Level 4 Fierce Beasts!

For a moment, all kinds of envious, jealous, and hateful gazes landed on the five of them, making the four companions of Han the Person feel incredibly uncomfortable.

From childhood to adulthood, they had always been at the bottom of the class; when had they ever been on the receiving end of such looks?

In the end, the four of them still lacked the courage to join Xiao Chen's team.

The four split into two groups and joined two other teams respectively.

Having experienced yesterday's events, those two teams were happy to accept them; after all, in their eyes, there is strength in numbers, and it would be safer.

Not long after leaving the village, the two teams separated, and Xiao Chen led his team toward the northwest.

Just as they entered the Northwest Forest, Xiao Chen stopped in his tracks upon seeing the Seven-Colored Flowers on the ground.

"What's wrong, Brother Chen?" Zai Zai stepped forward and asked.

"You guys pull these Seven-Colored Flowers up by the roots and set them aside first."

Because of the hunting yesterday, Xiao Chen hadn't managed to farm his mana.

Although his total mana pool had already exceeded 1000, after the Gift of the Saint leveled up to 3, each use consumed 70 mana points.

This meant he could use it at most 15 times a day, and that was even accounting for his natural mana regeneration.

If he wanted to hunt more Fierce Beasts, the Gift of the Saint skill would definitely need to be used frequently.

By this calculation, 1000 mana points really weren't quite enough.

He had to kill Fierce Beasts, but he couldn't fall behind on farming mana either.

He decided that every time he passed by Seven-Colored Flowers, he would use them to farm a wave of mana.

Garfield Without Fat looked at Xiao Chen in disbelief.

"No way, Brother Chen, did these Seven-Colored Flowers offend you? You want to pull them up by the roots? That's just ruthless destruction of flowers."

Xiao Chen's face turned dark: "I told you to pull them, so pull them."

Garfield Without Fat and the other three didn't dare to speak again and obediently crouched down to pull up the Seven-Colored Flowers.

Xiao Chen stood to the side, and when he saw the health bars of the Seven-Colored Flowers were down to only 20, he replanted them.